Not a mystic witch's brew, but a super fast ski wax is being mixed in this boiling cauldron by scientist-skier Robert Smith-Johannsen. Former intercollegiate skiing champion at McGill University, Montreal Canada, and now a scientist at the General Electric Company's Waterford, NY, Chemical Laboratory. Smith-Johannsen spends his days in the laboratory and his nights in developing waxes to prevent snow and ice from sticking to skies. Believing that sticking and sliding are closely related, that is find one cause and you've got the answer to the other, the GE scientist has developed methods for making silicone rubber stick to metals, glass, ceramics and almost everything, and has also developed a coating solution for refrigerators ice trays thus eliminating sticking ice cubes.

General Electric Company1948-03-13